Wild Willow Farm and Education Center
So handsome!
father and son team, first day volunteers
creating an errigation system
Juanpablo MezzaCatepillarMonique & Chuck pulling weedsVery happy orange tree
Yesterday we spent a beautiful afternoon at Wild Willows Farm and Educational Center in San Diego CA. It was about six and a half acres of scenic serenity. We parked next to a beautiful thriving orange tree. There were rows of shaded growing areas, roosters crowing, bees zipping around cheerfully and throughout the farm were patches of vivid yellow chrysanthemums.
There were about twenty people working on various tasks from digging a pathway for irrigation pipes leading to the newly planted orchard, to a group of students from the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine planting Goji beans. The school had been working on experimenting what herbs and medicinal plants they could grow locally.
I also spent some time weeding with Monique, a naturopathic doctor. We had a wonderful conversation about health, food, and farming but what really moved me was that when we ran into a caterpillar which most think of as a pest, she simply said “Well everybody has to eat, hopefully we planted enough so we get some too.” I thought about the companies that genetically modify foods so they will actually kill off butterflies and other insects and hoped that they could be so wise some day.
One of the great things about this farm is that there are numerous ways and levels to participate in farming. Most of the people we met had been there before and were happy to have their hands in the dirt again. We met a father and son who were there for the first time but said they would be back for sure, they were volunteers. There were also some interns, the college class I mentioned before and Misha, the farm manager.
I interviewed Misha and as we iron out some tech issues we will get that interview up for you to view along with our previous interview with Nic Romano of VR Green Farms. Wild Willow Farm presently grows around a hundred different types of plant life along with being the home of ducks, chickens, and goats. The philosophy of the farm is basically “dig in”. If you want to plant, then plant. They have space to rent out, opportunities to volunteer, monthly potlucks where people bring food they have grown and share it in a dish of some sort.
They also have a wide variety of education. I was sad to have to leave before the beekeeping workshop. I was curious about a dome like structure that looked similar to bamboo. Misha said it was from a workshop where they were learning how to build sustainable structures from the earth. They also have cooking classes teaching people what to do with some of the local vegetation. They are not presently doing CSA boxes but it is in the works. Their sister farm, Suzie’s Farm does CSA boxes now though.
We got turned on to another remedy for aphids, tobacco tea sprayed on the plants. Now, for a quick shout out to the wonderful people we met yesterday….I had an operator malfunction and deleted names and that cool hot springs spot near SF so please shoot me an email with info so I can put captions on the pictures, etc.
Peace, Love and a Greener Planet!
-Christi christi@mothertheearth.org
About Christi Carver
Christi Carver is the founder of the Mother The Earth Project which is dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge on sustainable living.
Good post and right to the point. I don’t know if this is actually the best place to ask but do you guys have any thoughts on where to employ some professional writers? Thanks in advance